Just four days ago, National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden issued a rare statement, forcefully arguing against the American government’s line that what it does is not surveillance.

In particular, it appeared that Snowden was directly challenging Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Feinstein has been one of the intelligence community’s strongest allies, and she notably heads the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Specifically, Feinstein wrote on October 20 in USA Today that the NSA's "call-records program is not surveillance."

But on Monday, Feinstein herself issued a new statement, calling for a “total review of all intelligence programs” in light of the new revelations of American surveillance conducted on American allies including France, Spain, Mexico, and Germany.

“Let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed," Feinstein said. “Unlike NSA’s collection of phone records under a court order, it is clear to me that certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade and that the Senate Intelligence Committee was not satisfactorily informed. Therefore our oversight needs to be strengthened and increased.”

Feinstein went on to say that “unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance," she does not believe the US should collect e-mails and phone calls from friendly foreign leaders. In her eyes, the president should explicitly approve that type of surveillance.

“It is my understanding that President Obama was not aware Chancellor Merkel’s communications were being collected since 2002," she concluded. "That is a big problem.”

Promoted Comments

Too little, too late, Mrs. Feinstein. I'm voting against you in the next primary, and maybe the general election depending on how credible the competition is. (Special thanks to California's new top-two party-agnostic primary system.)

But I appreciate that you feel like spying on the foreign wealthy and powerful is over the line. Now if you could only realize that spying on the domestic underprivileged is too.